Old Money.

So yesterday I awoke early (as usual) to have a lazy day, I had some breakfast, played some music (actually played tons of music)I read some emails and then decided to see how the great unwashed were doing, imagine my surprise when I clicked on Farcebook to see a number of birthday greetings……for me …WTF, I’m not against people enjoying their birthdays, it’s just that I don’t celebrate the day, if I am at work I always take the day off so I don’t growl at people wishing the best wishes for the day, since the age of eight I have probably celebrated it maybe five times, its complicated but for good reason, not that it happens often, as its meant to be a closely guarded secret, if you know, you are supposed to sign the official secrets act, the penalty is instant death for the well-wishers, Farcebook strikes again, I will have to double check my settings (again) to be honest I wasn’t too bothered and after reading the messages from all of the lovely people,actually made me happy……ish. So, I will let you all off this time, any more of these shenanigans and there will be some severe punishment for all of the repeat offenders.

So its official I can be classed as “Old Money” and yes the name game is in play, what has come to mind is how tired and wiped out that my body feels like, my knees are shot, I have a hip that’s playing up, and generally my diabetes is still kicking my arse on a daily basis, not to mention the gut and arse issue that has been plaguing me for over seven years and then the aches and pains from my fall earlier in the year not to mention the other falls that I have had in the last eight weeks, damn I must be old as I keep falling over, it’s not all assassination attempts by the wife and family, as I was contemplating my naval yesterday I realised that I had been working in some way or another for nearly 50 years (damn I feel so old).

My father left the family home when I was seven nearly eight, my brother three years older than me got a paper round and gave all the money to our mother to help out the household, not that she wanted to take it, as he proved his worth he took over more of the rounds and made more and helped more, aware that I was a drain I went to the same shop and asked for a paper round, Alan Wilkinson took pity on me and said no, but if I was interested I could help the ladies in the shop humping and dumping, little tasks that I got 50 pence for the Saturday he soon realised that me and my brother were good workers, we went from there, I was soon organizing the cellar storeroom to be honest it was a tiny space and I loved it I sorted out all of the stock, doing it by Best before dates, even by the age of the ten I was organized, as I got to eleven I started doing afternoon papers, again doing more than one round, I know my mother hated taking money from her children, but we had to help, there was very little help for single mothers in that day and age,.

My brother and I soon cornered the market for all of the Sunday papers in our village and then helping a family friend with minor building works, small demolition works and the such like, we were  quite industrious, maybe it also caused me to have a small (cough splutter) chip on my shoulder that I didn’t notice at the time, but looking back, damn I was so annoying, I discovered music and girls and so the shop  work and paper rounds came to a crashing finish, me petulant, damn right I was, I figured I was been taking for a mug, in reality I wasn’t I was simply approaching burn out and something had to give and it wasn’t going to be either music or the girls! So, I then left school on the Thursday and went in the army on the Friday, I had my placement from the age of thirteen (I was keen) well that went belly up, they got me a job with a local firm which didn’t last more than a couple of months as they really were taking the piss, I got a great job with the National Coal Board in their Forestry department, which I loved but again shenanigans ended that job, nothing to do with me, simply budgets and skull doggery on the managers part, he simply wasn’t honest, I wish he had been as I prefer that, it’s a theme that runs through my life, funny that!

I then did a number of jobs some declared, some not, and in-between I started my short but illustrious career as a songwriter, well ok lyricist, well ok wordsmith at a push, but I had some fun made some money, saw tons of bands and generally was in a better place than I realised, considering all of the shit that had gone on before, I then met my first wife and I got a job working with my future father in law who was gobsmacked when I told him I had taken a significant pay cut to work with him, that shut him up, and then the “plagiarism” raised its ugly head, I was twenty one and dumb I have told the story before so won’t rehash the story, go find it in the old blogs, I soon had no income and had bought a house, so I jumped at the first job I could, I was there for 35 years and went from being a grunt at the very bottom to nearly making it to the top of the tree(well top five and then I hit the glass ceiling). I also had some part time work if there was no overtime, and I roadied for a couple of local bands, mates and the such like, at my main place of employment I worked hard over seventy hours a week, again I have told the tale, read the old blogs, I simply wanted to do my best, I was then discarded as I was costly, they got rid of all the old timers as our T&C’s were too good for the administrators, cue panic, three interviews later I got a new job and I know simply go with the flow, I don’t love it like my last job but that’s the way life goes, as always the world keeps spinning.

So, now I have been in my new position for nearly two years, I realise that my body probably wont last into retirement , that is the main reason I simply do my hours and no more, well that and the fact that the wife isn’t too well, her mother is in a worse condition and the grandson has issues, there is only so much I can do to help, I wish I could do more but those days are done, I really am old money, at least my mental health is a damn sight better than it was, I miss my friends and yesterday made me realise I actually do have friends, I don’t ride the wings of solitude, I probably don’t help myself as I am terrible at keeping in touch, I feel as though I will just be a burden, people have enough issues without my (perceived) issues being added to them, as I alluded to earlier in this blog we have some issues ongoing so its best that we keep to ourselves, it wont last forever, but family must come first.

As a treat for my special day me and the wife were going to go to a record fair, however it got cancelled for the bloody world cup, I have no idea when it will be rescheduled, more than likely we will be in our own insular bubble, as it happens we did some food shopping, did a care visit to the mother in law, then came home and chilled, more music, some tv and a late night, we climbed the wooden hill, as usual I was asleep before the wife even got sorted out, and as usual I was up with the larks yet again, I think the longest night sleep I have had this year is about seven hours as I usually average between four and a half to five hours , even when I am not at work, I tend to keep the wife company as she is a night owl and suffers with sleeplessness, anyway this isn’t me bitching this is simply my observations from an unusual weekend, a friends band was playing and we really wanted to go and see them but as always family has to come first as we have the grandson staying with us.

So, the world keeps turning, we are alive and well and I have partaken in my fifty eighth journey around the sun, who knows I might even celebrate the next one, it was a lovely warm feeling for so many people to take time out of their busy days to wish me the original grumpster a hiccy burpday, thank you one and all, I don’t think I will get another 58, but here’s hoping though, and there you have it a slight detour from the blog I was thinking about, well only slightly, so watch the skies for incoming, keep spreading the disease numbers are consistent so we are doing something right, until the next time, stay safe and stay alive, until then Toodles!

Four on the Floor Volume 5.

Cats in Space – Kickstart the Sun – 9/10.

I can honestly say that this band is AWESOME, there i said it, stunning vocals exceptional song writing, playing that suits the songs and doesn’t disappear up its own arse in a sea of widdly widdly! I discovered the band with their Scarecrow album and members have changed slightly over the years, but the quality of the band simply grows and grows, the only downside to this brilliance is that the world has dumbed down to cookie monster vocals and de tuned riffs they simply don’t have an understanding of this level of excellence anymore, I know its not everybody’s cup of tea but godamn it’s so bloody good, but why only a nine, well a perfect score is reserved for perfect albums and although its really good its not quite perfect although it does try and try bloody hard! The only complaint I have is that its simply too many songs, and its not that the songs are poor but people’s attention spans kind of wanders, a lot of those classic albums are in the 35/40-minute mark. What songs would I pick I have no idea I have rocked this album everyday for the last 9 days and different days bring different moods, it’s a minor bitch, this deserves to be huge as do the band, long may they reign and yes, I can’t wait for the next one!

John Norum – Gone to Stay – 5/10.

I had seen a few reviews for this album and it got me thinking it could be good, and while there are a few good ideas I hate the vocals, I hate the David Bowie cover (I’m not a fan of Bowie to be honest I would have preferred the laughing gnome now that would have been good)I have most of his solo albums but in all honesty it simply didn’t float my boat I’m not going to witter on about it, if it was a school report it would say “could do better” lets see what he delivers next go back to what you were doing when you started playing classic bloody rock music!

Lonely Robot – A Model life – 8/10.

I enjoyed the first three albums that had a loose concept running through them, the forth one I though the quality dropped, maybe John Mitchell was simply spreading himself I little thin, I approached this one with a degree of trepidation, I needn’t have worried, the quality has returned and its not what most people would expect, I love it, its not rock, its not metal, its something just a little different, and its all the better for it, again it’s not instant, it takes a few plays but it bleeds into you, some nice atmospheric touch’s weird piano bits and simply sprinkled with magic.

Kings of Mercia - Kings of Mercia – 8/10.

This one came from leftfield simply because I thought Steve Overland was simply singing one song, but no he does the whole album, I liked it at first but thought, it should have been someone different as the main vocalist, but no the more I played it the more it made sense, and I enjoyed it more and more, with Jim Matheos as the main man backed by Joey Vera (Armoured Saint and Simon Phillips on drums (who has played with everybody, just do some research) it’s a good solid album that gets better with repeated plays, go on give it a go you might be surprised…..I was1

 

So a bloody surprise that its all new music, and I already have the next bloody blog prepped (WTF) so read play some of the music you never know you might just  like it, so until the next one stay safe stay alive and until then …..Toodles.

Step up to the Plate.

Well, that was like Mr Toads wild and wacky ride, I had to do a four on the floor blog, simply as I got a shit ton of flak from a few people, nobody important, however they did complain to the site and I got a sensitive warning posted to the blog, WTF why, I’m still awaiting a response, I’m not holding my breath but it just goes to show, if you complain enough, you can make a difference…………. NOT!

This is just a tad late as the last blog kept plugging away, I thought I would let it build away and make some hay while the sun was shining metaphorically, although the world was spinning, I seemed to be in a small rut and although I wasn’t down or even out, I was in a bit of a fug, things have been gathering a pace, I simply couldn’t get any traction, funny that!

Family matters are not the best(health wise) and no I am not going to go into it here, life is shit but I am there for the family, however because of what has been going on I decided to look at my own frailties, I decided I would get to grips with them and try my best to defeat them at least in one battle, I failed at the first hurdle I tried to make an appointment only to be told to do an E consult, when I tried to do that, well it appears not even diabetes is covered under the headings so yes I failed and failed big style, I rang the surgery to ask about it and the nice lady was as much use as an axe in the head!

I finally got my MRI for my head 11 months to the day after my accident/fall, and while I have one or two little niggles my head and jaw were/are the biggest issues, some days its all good in the hood and other days its shit, my appointment was for Sunday, as always, I got there in plenty of time, didn’t matter someone got pushed into the list so I was there for 40 minutes twiddling my thumbs before the lady came for me. Paperwork complete I was quite happy as I had done this before, this time was slightly different, the last time was for my knees, this time for my head, I was clamped into a frame and then pushed in backwards, damn I was in a real panic, I very nearly asked to be let out but I grew a set, and stayed the distance, all 17 minutes of it, my head was racing all the way through it, I hope there’s nothing seriously wrong as I really don’t want to do that again, I’m getting chills thinking about it now.

Since then, I have immersed myself in music and work, work has been kind of meh, but the music has been a blast, and no I won’t tell you what as some of it will be in the next four on the floor blog, a little hint one could be a south African rock band from 1979! Yeah, I like some weird shit. Today I have chores (which are complete) and then there will be more supporting of the people within range, I can be a good person from time to time (allegedly).

So what will the coming weeks be bringing more support of the family, more work and tons more music and hopefully some good vibes to go with that, as for the blog I have a couple starting to simmer away, but if the previous one is still getting hits I may end up with a bottleneck of ideas, so I think it will be a kind of watch this space for a while, but as I have already said it’s all good in the hood, thank you to all the nice people who got in touch even the one or two who in a nice way told me off about interacting, I hear you all message received and you must have confused me with someone who gives a shit I will continue to post what I want even if it can be drivel/waffle at times I am if nothing but consistent!

And that’s another one done, stay safe, stay alive and watch the skies for incoming there will be another one along soon (honest) I simply haven’t decided which of the tree I am contemplating will come first, watch this space is all I can confirm, so until the next time thank you and from me its………..Toodles!